HERP (Harphius, Herpius, Citharedus), HEINRICH. - Franciscan mystical writer, first preacher of the Brothers of the Common Life (1445-50) in Holland, then Observant Franciscan friar of the Cologne province (1450); d. at Malines in 1477. He received the Franciscan habit in Rome, at the Ara Coeli convent, during a pilgrimage. He devoted himself to the study of spiritual theology, especially on the works of the Venerable J. Ruysbroek. From 1470 to 1473 he governed the Cologne province; then he was guardian of the Malines convent.
Although often obscure and not without exaggerations, he was one of the most esteemed mystics of the 15th and 16th centuries, as evidenced by the numerous editions of his works, the principal ones being: *Speculum aureum praeceptorum Dei* (Mainz 1474); *Sermones de tempore et de sanctis, de tribus partibus Poenitentiae, de triplici adventu Christi* (Nuremberg 1481). His most important work is the *Theologia mystica* (ed. D. Loher, Cologne 1538), which united three writings by H. (*Soliloquium divini amoris*, *Directorum contemplativorum*, which is a translation of *Spiegel der volcomenhait* [Antwerp 1501], and *Eden seu Paradisus contemplativorum*). In its second edition, dedicated to St. Ignatius (ibid. 1566), it was placed on the Index because of ambiguous expressions; but the improved Roman edition (1585), frequently reprinted, enjoyed wide and well-deserved diffusion.